What Lina Said
by Lovely White Violets
Summary: Lost in the Forest of Phantasms, Gourry finds a very different Lina. Chapter 11 of Knight of the Aqualord from Gourry's perspective. LG.


Genre: Romance

Pairing: Lina x Gourry

Summary: Lost in the Forest of Phantasms, Gourry finds a very different Lina. Chapter 11 of Knight of the Aqualord from Gourry's perspective. LG.

Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers.

Author's (Admittedly Long) Notes: Thanks to Hulu, I've fallen in love with Slayers again, and coupled with an avid interest in QueenHimiko's work, I've been inspired to write… not of course on my other fanfiction, but on something completely Slayers-related! (I'm going to try not to start any new series given my poor track record finishing them.)

In any case, this is my first Slayers fic ever (with my first watching of Slayers being back in 2001), so I don't have a perfect handle on voices… but hopefully that's why they call these labors of love and not labors of accuracy. Also, I'm iffy on the ending, so it might get changed someday.

Anyway, this fic will make a lot more sense if you've read Knight of the Aqualord, Volume 2, Chapter 11, Lost in the Forest of Phantasms. It's better in context (manga translations exist online), but if you want to know what happened anyway, I've summarized it in this handy-dandy spoiler section below. I should say that I did rearrange how the scene actually ended from the manga for my own nefarious narrative purposes.

***SPOILER***

The chapter starts out with Lina searching in a forest because she has kicked Gourry far away after he hugs her, complaining of hunger. While looking for him, Lina gets attacked by a monster, but luckily is saved at the last minute by Gourry. Lina easily dispatches the monster but realizes Gourry has taken a fatal wound to the chest. As he dies, Gourry smiles up at her and states he's sorry because he promised to follow her and protect her his entire life. Lina is devastated as she kneels next to him, but she jerks away when she's suddenly attacked from behind. It turns out the "Gourry" who is dying is really an illusion monster who hunts its human prey by becoming an important person to that prey's life and distracting them so it can kill and eat them. Lina, of course, is furious that this monster took the form of a dying Gourry and Dragon Slaves it to death. Meanwhile, the real Gourry pops up and admits he ran into something that was trying to pass itself off as Lina. The real Lina really wants to know what Fake Lina said, but Gourry predictably can't remember… or so he says. This fic came from that idea.

***END SPOILER***

 **What Lina Said**

"Lina!" Gourry called out, but it was useless. He had to be a good ways from her judging by how long he'd been in the air.

He blew out a breath. Sure, he'd put his arms around Lina earlier as a joke, but that was hardly an excuse to kick him all this way… Of course, he wasn't really surprised by her reaction either.

She was always flustered when he got too close, something that would be adorable if it didn't make declaring his feelings for her impossible. But still. All he'd really wanted was to get her to stop for food.

 _Food_. The thought of it made his much-neglected stomach growl, and he winced.

"Guess I'd better hurry if I'm going to eat anytime soon," he said to no one in particular. He glanced up at the sky, oriented himself, and started running in the direction he figured Lina was in. He had only gone a short way when he heard her yell out.

"Gourry!"

He stopped, surprised. A warning in his brain went off—hadn't she been too quick in finding him?—but he brushed it aside because there she was, a few paces away, framed by two trees.

Then all other thoughts flew out of his head as she stumbled forward with a cry.

"Lina!" he yelled, catching her. "Are you okay?"

He noticed she was favoring one leg, and a huge gash stretched along the other.

"You're hurt," he said.

"You figured that out all on your own, huh?" Lina asked, irritated. Then she sighed. "Wipe that look off your face. I… tripped. It was stupid of me. But I was searching for you, I might add."

"Sorry," he said, knowing it was better to apologize rather than point out that she was blaming him for something that was entirely her own fault. "Do you want me to carry you back to the others?"

"No way! This is embarrassing enough!" she said, waving her hands to ward him off. "I've put a healing spell on it. It'll be fine in a few minutes. Just… help me sit."

Lina threaded an arm through his, and together they sank to the forest floor and leaned against a tree. He figured she'd let go once she was settled, but when he tried to lift his arm, she hissed.

"Ow," she said. "Don't move. That hurts."

He obeyed. She squirmed until she was comfortable which happened to be snug against him, under his arm. She was too close. He tried to focus on breathing normally. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Not unless you can make this heal faster, no," she said. "Why don't you talk to me?"

"I can tell you about the time I encountered this two-headed turtle…"

She groaned. "Never mind."

"You never want to hear my stories, Lina," Gourry teased. "I'm starting to think you don't like them."

"Let's just say I don't stick with you because of you can tell tales," Lina said dryly.

"Why do you stick with me then?"

It was out before he could stop himself. Beside him, Lina stilled, and Gourry rolled his shoulders uncomfortably. Lina was weird whenever anyone asked questions about what they meant to each other. She was even worse when he was the one doing the asking.

It wasn't like Gourry hadn't tried telling her how he felt. But with Lina dragging them from one madcap adventure to another and with all sorts of people joining their party, she practically ensured they were never alone long enough for him to tell her he loved her. Gourry was a tiny bit suspicious actually that it wasn't the Monster race trying to end the world so much as Lina trying to avoid her own feelings.

To be fair, it wasn't all Lina's fault. Gourry didn't bring up the topic often because… well, he didn't know how she'd react. He knew she must like him a little since he'd seen what she'd done to people she hated. But _how_ _much_ , he wasn't sure. And frankly, he was too afraid to ask, too afraid to drive her away with a confession she wasn't ready to hear.

The silence was getting long now. Gourry was going to speak when Lina twisted in his hold to meet his eyes. He had the sudden thought that if he lowered his head just a bit, their mouths would fit perfectly together. He shook his head. Being near her like this… He tried to move but but found he was trapped between her and the tree they were leaning against.

"Why do you _think_ I stay with you?" she asked softly.

"Because I'm your guardian," he said in the half-serious, half-joking tone he'd perfected in their years together, the same tone that tended to confuse her long enough for him to change the subject.

But Lina wasn't going to be put off today. In fact, she looked strangely determined.

"No, that's not it," Lina said, a small smile on her face. Gourry was trying to puzzle out why the smile seemed out of place when she pressed closer to him. The pain from her leg must not have been bothering her anymore. "There's only one reason, Gourry Gabriev, why I'm still here…"

"You owe me a new sword?" he hazarded, his heart thumping.

"Come on, you jellyfish," she said, but fondly. "Even _you_ must have figured it out by now… "

She trailed a hand up his chest, twirling a lock of his hair in her fingers, and Gourry suddenly found it hard to think.

"Well, I… haven't," was the best he could manage under the circumstances.

"To answer your question," she said, her voice barely a whisper, her face close to his, "I stay with you because I love you."

Then to his shock, she looped her arm around him and kissed him.

He'd fantasized about this so many times, that it took him a moment to fully process what was even happening. Lina had… actually admitted her feelings?

Gourry tried to sink into the kiss, but confusion and surprise kept him from actually enjoying it. Something was wrong. This should have been amazing. He'd always thought kissing her would be, but it didn't feel… right.

He'd always envisioned this happening differently—some romantic night where the stars had aligned and he'd gotten his act together long enough to confess maybe, or if not that, then a quiet moment before one of the huge life-and-death battles they always found themselves in.

Gourry didn't think it would be this—a kiss in the middle of a forest full of monsters in a strange new world. He couldn't concentrate. If he was finally going to be with Lina, he wanted to take his time, to remember this. He wanted to love her forever after all.

And it was the thought of loving Lina that saved him.

He'd pushed her back just enough to see the long claw that had snaked around him. He shoved Lina left as he threw himself right, avoiding the deadly blow aimed at his heart.

" _Damn, so close…_ " said Lina. But it wasn't her voice now. It was harsh and raw, like someone scraping a knife against gravel.

Gourry rolled to his feet, his hand reaching for his sword only to find that fake-Lina had somehow unhooked the belt attaching it to his waist. He could have kicked himself for being so easily tricked. At least that explained why the kiss had felt all wrong.

"Not many humans escape me… You're _good_ ," Lina—or whatever this was—hissed.

"And you're definitely not Lina," Gourry said. "What are you? Why do you look like her?"

"I looked into your heart and shaped myself into the person most important to you," the monster said, smiling in a sickly way.

Whatever glamour the creature had been using to trick him was rapidly coming undone. Lina's face hung eerily on its grotesque skeletal frame, her illusory body growing sinewy and long as roots from the forest floor shot from the ground and twined around it. Soon, it towered high above him.

Gourry backed up a step, calculating the distance to his sword which lay at the monster's trunk.

"Humans make such easy prey," it mocked as it circled Gourry slowly. "You completely abandon all reason when it comes to someone you _love_ … tell me, who will guard Lina-chan now that you're _dead?_ "

There was a rush, and the monster's roots sprang up around him like a trap, the tips sharpening into hundreds of threatening points. Gourry glanced around for something to duck behind, noticing a rock formation just a few steps away. It'd be a close thing, but he could do it. He tensed, waiting for the instant the spears would curve downward, allowing him to see the clearest path to escape.

Then he stopped, something pricking his senses.

He heard the high-pitched whine of a spell coming into being, felt the way the air seemed to get thinner, like someone was sucking it away…

"What the—" the monster said, roots suspended as its head turned for a fraction of an instant.

That was all Gourry needed. He scooped up his his sword and ran. For the second time in one day, he dodged a potentially fatal blow, skimming along the ground to clear the path of a spell he was only far too familiar with. The creature never had a chance as the Dragon Slave tore through the clearing, destroying everything in sight.

It took a minute for Gourry's eyes to readjust to the daylight after the explosion. On the bright side, when he could see again, he realized he'd been closer than he thought.

Across the crater was the real Lina, chest heaving, anger flashing in her red eyes. No illusion this time.

"Lina!" he called. "There you are!"

"Gourry," she said in an odd way. She didn't look quite like herself.

"I was pretty worried about you," he said, running up to her. Then realizing he might sound too concerned, he plunged on. "I mean, you know, since I was so far ahead and everything… but you know I could've found you on my own. Don't you think the Dragon Slave might have been overkill?"

Instead of yelling or getting irritated with him like he'd hoped, she continued to stare mutely up at him, her face pale, her expression pained. He didn't like it, and the need to comfort her made him close the short distance between them.

"Well, that's not important," he said softly, putting a hand on her head. "I'm just glad to see you're okay."

This seemed to work. She leaned into his hand, closing her eyes. "Yeah, I—"

"YOU!"

The shout caused Lina to jump abruptly away from him as Shizuri and the rest of their party stormed up.

"Maybe a little warning next time before you pull that weird move of yours?" Shizuri screeched by way of greeting.

Gourry half-listened as Shizuri and Lyos dressed Lina down for nearly hitting them. It was only when Lina admitted why she'd cast the Dragon Slave in the first place that Gourry started paying attention again.

"...so the forest tried to kill me by parading itself as one of you. If you look at it from my perspective, I saved all of us," Lina said, her hands moving as fast as her mouth as if that could somehow distract Shizuri. For her part, Shizuri didn't look convinced. Amelia cleared her throat.

"A human-eating forest is certainly a dangerous place… Disguising oneself for the purpose of catching an opponent off-guard is the very definition of cowardice!" Amelia said, the picture of righteous indignation. "...but Lina, what did it actually _say_ to distract you?"

"Um, well, this and that… er, nothing too important!" Lina stammered, glancing at Gourry. "What about you, Gourry? Run into anything strange?"

Gourry thought about encountering fake Lina in the forest… and decided it was better if the real Lina never ever _ever_ found out that he'd kissed a forest monster thinking it was her. Yes, the best approach to his way of thinking was to play dumb.

"Now that you mention it," he said, trying to sound as casual as possible, "I do remember running into a thing back there that was trying to disguise itself as _you_ , Lina."

"You did?!"

Gourry found it very interesting that her face had turned a brilliant shade of red.

"Yeah, she tried to tell me a lot of stuff," he continued, "but none of it sounded like you, so I figured something was up."

"Uh-huh," Lina said, frowning. "So that 'me' you met back there… what exactly did she say?"

"Hmmm... I forget!" he lied, using his best dumb-swordsman voice. He nearly smiled when she shoved at her hair in frustration.

"Would it kill you to remember something every once in awhile?" she growled.

"Why would you want me to do that?" Gourry asked.

Lina shook her head. "Never mind. The monster's dead now. Let's just… get out of here."

Amelia, Lyos, and Shizuri started leading the way. Behind them, he fell into step with Lina, who was looking anywhere but at him.

Her face was still red, making Gourry very curious to know just what she'd seen in the woods. The monster had said it adapted to its prey. In fact, Gourry was still kicking himself for even thinking fake Lina was real, but the illusion had been irresistible. She was the one thing he wanted most.

So what would the forest have shown Lina? Could it have been him?

For one moment, Gourry was swept up in the notion that perhaps Lina wanted the same thing he did... then he remembered the look on her face when he'd found her.

It hadn't been happy. It had been haunted.

So what had she encountered then?

"What are you looking at?" Lina snapped at him, breaking his thoughts.

He realized he'd been openly staring and coughed.

"I was wondering what was on your mind," he said, deciding to go with the truth. "You said it was nothing when Amelia asked, but when I found you after the Dragon Slave, you looked… upset. What did you actually see in the forest?"

"Something I wish I hadn't," she mumbled, and something like grief flickered across her face…

"Lina?" he asked, worried now because she looked at him like she was seeing a ghost.

Then just as quickly, she shrugged it off with an awkward laugh. "Forget it. No use being angry when nothing's wrong, right?"

"...right," he said. He hated the feeling that he was missing something.

She glanced towards Amelia and the others. They were still within view, but not within earshot. She sighed.

"Look, Gourry, I…" she started, then trailed off.

"You don't have to say anything if you don't want to," he said when several seconds passed.

To his surprise, she tentatively reached out and clapped him on his shoulder.

"I'm just glad you're back," she said softly.

Her touch was nice, and his mind raced. If she felt this way, maybe there was hope for him yet. Maybe this was a sign that he should tell her...

...and then she shoved him. Hard.

"Ow! What was that for, Lina?"

"Because I'm starving!" she concluded, and she was back to her old self again. "It took you long enough to find me, jellyfish brain! We could have been eating by now if you hadn't disappeared!"

"Sorry," he said, rolling his eyes, "but you're the one that kicked me all that way…"

"So you're saying it's my fault?!"

"I would never say that, Lina," he said with a very straight face.

"Humph," she said, but he knew he'd won the point because she didn't argue further.

It was so very Lina that he couldn't help but companionably drop an arm around her.

She stiffened, but she didn't push him away for once.

It was a start anyway. For now, it was enough.

Someday, he'd gather up the courage to tell her everything about how he felt. And when that day came… well, he'd be ready to hear what the real Lina would have to say.


End file.
